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Scope and changes

Verbal instructions: confirming them in writing before you proceed

By Review.LivePublished 3 min readHow we write

Halfway along the lobby walk, the owner's representative tells your electrical foreman to raise six receptacles 300 mm to suit new millwork. The crew moves them the next morning. A week later the millwork shop drawings show the original height, and nobody can say who asked for the change or who pays to move them back.

Two people in white hard hats on a guarded rooftop write down a note together on a tablet.
Photo: Marketing Department on Unsplash

A verbal instruction feels like a decision, but on paper it does not exist until someone writes it down. The person giving it may not have the authority to change your contract, and the details drift each time the story is retold. On US federal contracts, for example, only the contracting officer can modify the contract, other government staff must not direct work that should be a modification, and an inspector cannot change the specification without the contracting officer's written authorization.

  1. Repeat it back before the person walks away: what, where, how much and by when.
  2. Check the authority: find out whether this person can direct changes under your contract. A subcontractor's contract is with the contractor that engaged it, usually the general contractor, so confirm an instruction from the owner's side with that contractor.
  3. Write it down within the hour: the time, who gave it, who was there, their words, and the location and drawings affected.
  4. Confirm it in writing the same day to the person who gave it and to whoever directs your work, saying you expect it to change cost, time or both.
  5. Ask for a reply before you proceed, and say when the crew can start.
  6. If you are directed to proceed first, keep the work separate on its own time and material (T&M) ticket, with photos.

Common mistakes

  • Starting because the person seemed senior.
  • Recording it only in your daily report, which the person who gave it may never read.
  • Confirming vaguely: "changes as discussed" confirms nothing.
  • Treating silence as agreement without checking the contract.

What to say

What to say on site

  1. You:"Let me read that back so I have it right."
  2. You:"That looks like a change to our scope, so I'll confirm it with the general contractor first."
  3. You:"I'll send you a note today with what you asked for."
  4. You:"Can you reply to it, so we can plan the crew?"

Check your understanding

Why send the confirmation to the person who gave the instruction, and not just note it in your daily report?

Show the answer
A record only you have read cannot be contradicted, but it cannot be agreed either. Sending it lets the other person correct it on the day, and their reply or their silence becomes part of the record. It also tells them the instruction has a cost before more of it is built.

Sources

  1. FAR 43.102, Policy (contract modifications)U.S. General Services Administration (Acquisition.gov) · United States (federal contracts) · accessed
  2. FAR 52.246-12, Inspection of ConstructionU.S. General Services Administration (Acquisition.gov) · United States (federal fixed-price construction contracts) · accessed

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